This invention relates to helmet visors and especially to a helmet visor for a rigid helmet such as used by motorcycle riders.
In the past, a wide variety of visors and visor and shield combinations have been produced for helmets and have a support or attachment band having three or five female snap portions mounted thereto and curved to fit on the helmet, which may have three, five, or more male snap portions. A supporting band typically has a shield or bill protruding therefrom and formed integral with a supporting band. The bill may have another band around its edge having snap fastener portions attached thereto for attaching a shield to the visor. Combined shields and visors for attachment to helmets may be seen in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,553, for Helmet Shield and Visor Apparatus; No. 4,097,930, for Helmet Shield Apparatus; and U.S. Pat. No. 254,638, for Combined Helmet Shield and Visor. One of the problems and disadvantages with a helmet visor is the impingement of air upon the visor when a motorcycle rider is moving at sufficient speed, which exerts a lifting force on the visor and helmet, which tends to lift the helmet upwards and frequently exerts sufficient force to break the rigid snaps to loosen the visor from the helmet. This problem is countered with the use of additional snaps and also more rigid snaps to prevent the visor from snapping loose. In addition, it is customary for motorcycle riders to duck their heads slightly or to turn their heads to compensate for the variable forces created by the visor and against the visor. The stiffer snaps on the visors make it difficult to attach the visor to the helmet since the snaps are attached to a fairly rigid support band on the visor, and the additional snaps make it difficult to adjust for variations in helmet snap portion positions.
One method for reducing wind forces applied to the visor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,421, for Helmet Visor, having spoiler slots formed therein, along with wind deflector surfaces to reduce the pressure differential between one side of the visor and the other, and to reduce the pressure applied against the surface by the movement of air thereagainst.
The present invention deals with a visor designed to overcome the prior art problems of visors breaking loose as a result of the forces created by the air flow adjacent the visor, and to also ease the attachment of the visor to the helmet, and to absorb blows when the visor is hit by branches, mud, rider's gloves, or the like. The present visor also allows the wearer to pivot the visor up or down to reduce the incidence of visor angle relative to the wind stream or sun.